Lake

My family went camping this week. I was off on Tuesday, so I headed up straight after work on Monday to meet them in the Uintas.

When I arrived at the site of Lilly Lake, they told me we were going to try to find a site at Washington Lake instead. So I shuttled family members around while they picked a better spot. Washington Lake was lovely.

 And since the elevation is so much higher and there were still snow patches, there were still glacier lilies, which usually pop up in March down here. Last month I was surprised to see them in June, but here it was July!

I did not sleep well that night. I was on an air mattress in a tent with my dad, brother, and oldest nephew, while the rest of the family was in the trailer my folks bought last Labor Day. I had to try not to roll off the mattress or hit my brother, and my dad's perpetual cough certainly didn't help.

The next morning, I had to try to get a run in. There appeared to be a trail along the shores of the lake. So I followed it one direction, but it just disappeared, so I went the other way.

 There was a dam on the lake, but I don't know why. I went across the dam

 and across various wooden bridges.

 The trail was difficult to follow and run on. It wasn't steep or especially rocky, but it was often hard to see where it was. There were so many thawing snow patches that much of the trail was submerged or very swampy. I saw a sign for Haystack Lake, so I thought I would go there. I passed Tail Lake and then Shadow Lake.

 And then I lost the trail. Luckily, Google Maps still showed where I was (even though I was on airplane mode), so it showed me I had gone the wrong direction. I went backwards and found the real trail and made it to Haystack Lake. It was pretty, but all those Uinta glacial lakes pretty much look the same.

 My feet did get wet, but I did try to stay out of the puddles (even though I know that's bad for the trails and landscape).

I went 5.8 miles, but it was a very slow pace, since so much of the journey was soggy and confusing.

Later in the day, I rowed across Washington Lake in our inflatable boat. I do enjoy lakes, even though they also kind of freak me out.

Next to our camp site, we had a giant puddle. We could hear frogs ribbiting, which was charming. But it also meant lots of mosquitoes—not so charming.

I went home Tuesday night, since I had to be at work earlier on Wednesday. But I planned to go back up after work on Wednesday. I started heading up Parleys Canyon when my family called and told me that they were headed home, so I got off on a random exit to turn around.

I really am overqualified at my job, so it's refreshing when I get to tell people some of the things I've learned professionally. Apparently there was a model railroad convention in Salt Lake, so we had lots of non-Utahn folks who asked about "Deseret." I also had a woman who was a descendant of Francis Hammond. He went on a mission to the Sandwich Islands in the 1850s, and I cited some of his story in The Saints Abroad. Unfortunately, I didn't get to have a very long conversation with her, because it was the beginning of a very busy hour and a half where I had nothing but people wanting me to weigh their fool's gold.

On 7-11, my family went to get free Slurpees. I technically can have Slurpees in the summer, but I haven't had the Slurpee brand in three years, though I had some other brands with Halloween flavors in the fall. So instead I got some red, white, and blue candy. At least 7-Eleven is contributing something during this dearth year of patriotic treats!

Today I attended my home ward to hear my mom speak, and I was happy that during this Pioneer Day season, they sang two pioneer hymns. My own ward is terrible at selecting seasonal songs.

But my nephews headed back to California today. It's fun having them around. But at least now they're old enough that they don't change as much between visits.